Always had an ally hull rib and looking to upgrade but all seem to be grp apart from highfields but they come at a price. At the moment I beach mine and leave in the shallows and don’t have to worry about pebbles and small rocks as the ally hull handles it all. Would I have to be a lot more cautious with a grp hull or am I thinking too much about it. Very easy just beaching the rib at the moment as I fish solo so makes life a lot easier. Few rocks on the beach where I launch as well so can make it quite tricky but with the ally hull it’s a breeze. Shall I try and stick with a smaller ally hull but bigger than my current one or just go for the bigger option and be more careful?
A GRP hull will be more susceptible to beaching, especially with stones where you’re likely to damage the gel coat. Sand is fine, that’s just abrasion. You could get a keel guard fitted, that would help too. They are different hulls if you’ve had aluminium before, so you are going to have to be careful if you opt for GRP.
A GRP hull will be more susceptible to beaching, especially with stones where you’re likely to damage the gel coat. Sand is fine, that’s just abrasion. You could get a keel guard fitted, that would help too. They are different hulls if you’ve had aluminium before, so you are going to have to be careful if you opt for GRP.
Thanks for your reply Spartacus, yes that’s what I was thinking, a bit more care whilst launching and retrieving when dropping and collecting the truck. Usually solo so anchor up when dropping the truck back so will just have to go deeper to make sure it doesn’t beach or get too shallow. I have a 3.9m and they do a 4.2m in ally but anything bigger is grp so we will see. Ideally I would like to go 4.8 max as to keep things simple.
Thanks for your reply Spartacus, yes that’s what I was thinking, a bit more care whilst launching and retrieving when dropping and collecting the truck. Usually solo so anchor up when dropping the truck back so will just have to go deeper to make sure it doesn’t beach or get too shallow. I have a 3.9m and they do a 4.2m in ally but anything bigger is grp so we will see. Ideally I would like to go 4.8 max as to keep things simple.
I gotta throw in a recommendation for BRIG boats. Their grp work is exceptional. Just sold mine after using it HARD for 3 years as a boat tender. Used to sail and live on anchor so it saw daily multiple drags up beaches and rocky shores. Despite already being 10 years old when I adopted it the bottom had no significant chipping and when I sold it I just had to touch up the gelcoat a little on the stern. Just discovered transom wheels this year!
Sula
